The Dialogues podcast features anyone who has a powerful story to tell, a great idea to share, or simply a wide range of knowledge and experience. I’ve featured guests from many industries, many faiths, many political perspectives, and many parts of the world.

I hope to revive the art of thoughtful conversation and the ancient philosophical dialogue. I hope you find these conversations meaningful, insightful, and thought-provoking.

While we all have our attention on multinational corporations, there are millions of almost invisible individuals making some truly great products, services, and companies. Maybe we should be paying more attention to them…

What does "Organic" really mean? Should we care about where our food comes from and how it is grown? And is my guest, Terrance Layhew, the most charming man in the Midwest? Find out these answers and more in this episode of The Dialogues.

Welcome back to this special series of the Dialogues podcast, where Ken Keach and I explore the History of Religion and Spirituality. In part 3, Ken and I discuss comparative religion and hamburgers around the world.

Topics: SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Google and the Black Box. Plato vs Aristotle. World of Warcraft, Warhammer, and how MMO's can teach valuable skills. Self development and disagreeableness. Life in Thailand. Yoga.

Welcome back to this special series of the Dialogues podcast, where Ken Keach and I explore the History of Religion and Spirituality. In part 2, Ken and I discuss the differences and similarities between religion and spirituality.

Topics: Vulnerability is strength. What does vulnerability say about our ability to grow, learn, and develop? What is suffering, and is it necessary or can it be avoided? How do different philosophies and religions view these topics? Why does our society seek to blame, rather than to heal or understand? The importance of gratitude.

This is the second half of my dialogue with Dr. David Congdon. If you want to check out the first part, please click here.

This half of our dialogue focuses on religion. In it, you'll hear about David's path, as he describes, from Evangelical to Existential; as well as the story behind his latest book, which led to his controversial firing. And finally, we enter a topic which will hopefully form a future dialogue between us: What is the idea of God in the modern world?

What is Conservatism, Liberalism, and Progressivism? When we talk about left and right, and republicans and democrats, what do we mean? What about the US context versus the global context, versus the East coast, West coast, Midwest, metropolitan, rural, and on and on, context...?

Main topics: Postmodernism. Self-development and individuation. Social media norms. Memes, and memes as 'weapons'. "Post-authenticity" in social media. Understanding the "Facebook Exodus". Were we unready for social media? Open vs Closed Internet (e.g. US vs China, as an example). Russia-hysteria being supported by meme-driven dishonesty. A message from Metal Gear Solid

Main Topics: Finding your "why" in business and finance. Project creep and six sigma. Philosophy in Business and Economics. Expanding your horizon and living a multi-dimensional life. Creating and finding meaning in your life in the 21st century. Patriotism. US strategic interests. The Military Industrial Complex. Ethics, Empire, and Economic Utilitarianism. Presidential vs Congressional authority. Advice to millennials from a boomer.

Topics include: - Civility & effective dialogue - Trump - Immigration & family separation - Facts vs Truth - Need for humility in media - How to do more than simply point out problems In 2018 almost half the country has expressed very low confidence in Congress, the Newspapers, The White House, and TV news. These low-confidence numbers have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. This is obviously a problem. But asking why this is the case is actually quite simple, and fairly common. Everyone is doing autopsies of this nation-wide, bipartisan, crisis of confidence, and few are honestly looking outward and exploring for the solution. Or at least, I believe when the problem is both all around us and in the mirror, our efforts are best served in trying to break that paradigm, rather than busily reinforce it. My guest today has been doing just that - and for several years. Lucas Mack is a speaker, author, and entrepreneur. He has a background in media and business, and specializes in strategic communications and developing effective cultures in teams, organizations, and institutions. He is the author of "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face," and is the creator of the podcast "The Golden Rule Revolution." Our conversation today may be a punch in the face for some (including myself), but will hopefully offer a better plan for many. You can check out his work at http://lucasmack.com

Build the wall. That was the chant that dominated the 2016 US election. However, shocking as it may seem, this idea was not invented on January 20, 2017; nor is it unique to one country, or one border. From Hungry, to Brazil, to Israel, to South Africa, to Silicon Valley, to the University of Missouri, to Twitter. Fences, walls, segregation, gated communities, economic red lines, ideological safe spaces, and algorithms to keep us safe - all from the dreaded, other. It seems we don't disagree too much on walls, just where to put them. But here we are, today, and it seems like there has never been a more important time to seriously talk about borders, walls, immigration, and cultural diversity. My guest today is here to do just that. Dr. Rebecca LeMoine is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. She specializes in political theory, particularly ancient Greek political thought. Her recent work examines the role of cultural diversity and interpolity relations in Plato’s political philosophy. She has been published in The American Political Science Review. And very recently signed a contract with Oxford University Press for the publication of her first book, tentatively titled: Plato’s Caves: The Liberating Sting of Cultural Diversity. I expect our conversation may sting some, but we are not here to share our outrage, but to share information, to spread ideas, and to make arguments. A website was recently created to collect evidence and scholarly responses to white supremacist appropriations of the Greeks. Please visit http://pages.vassar.edu/pharos/ for more information

Philosophy moves slowly. As well it should. And for so much of history this pace was not so much of a problem. But change affects all, philosophical truths and norms included. Today's dialogue will feature Aedrian Shaene. He has worked in the technology and Internet industry from the early days and has been a university lecturer on topics at the intersection of technology, social media, and philosophy. A couple months ago, Aedrian and I began a conversation through twitter which lead us now to the dialogue you are about to hear. While we will both be offering our critiques of social media and the internet, it should be lost on nobody that these things are the mechanism by which we will speak to you and is tool that connected us in the first place. And although the Internet and social media has all been around for less than my lifetime and many of your lives, it has, like both weed and flower, covered the globe. Philosophy moves slowly, but the Internet and social media do not.

How could you vote for ... Blank... ? That is still the question. Whether 'tis nobler to suffer silently while your facebook friends form an online hunting party; or to go full Milo Yiannopoulos, Samantha Bee, Late Night Television, or the President himself, and take arms against an endless sea of straw-men, and by shaming those who disagree with you, grow your social media following and ratings. That... is the past 2 years. With all that in mind I have invited on Sean Morgan to have a civil, political dialogue. Sean is a sergeant in the US Army, National Guard, and is currently deployed in Kosovo. As a civilian, he works in the technology industry and his educational background spans across Philosophy, Music, and Mechanical Engineering. As always, whenever or wherever you are listening, thank you. Today is the 18th of May, 2018. This is The Dialogues. If you would like to support the podcast, please visit https://patreon.com/eRochefoucauld

Are we really drifting towards a less free society, and being lead by a generation with so many prominent figures that show disdain for free speech and open inquiry? Has liberalism and conservatism really become hostage to its more extreme and authoritarian factions? To help sort this out, I've invited Dr. Justin Murphy on the Dialogues. Recently, he published an article titled: "Who’s afraid of free speech in the United States?" The article explores American sentiment towards free speech in a variety of cases over the past several decades. When compared to the prominent and viral examples in the past few years, the data he shows tells a different story. I don't believe Dr. Murphy and I will be able to settle this topic in 1-hour or even in 1-decade, but with a good dialogue, hopefully we can stumble forward towards a bit more understanding and a bit more truth.